On Monday, Jan. 13, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called for a special legislative session to address issues of illegal immigration, condominium regulation, agricultural relief in response to natural disasters, replenishing the My Safe Florida Home program, and the citizens’ initiative petition process.
In making his special session request, DeSantis cited President Donald Trump’s inauguration and the strict border policies he intends to implement as soon as he steps foot in office.
“The State of Florida will play an important role in supporting the Trump administration and must be fully prepared with sufficient resources,” DeSantis said in a press conference.
Here’s a rundown of what was discussed during the press conference and what it might mean for Florida residents.
DeSantis started his speech by accusing former President Joe Biden of failing to secure the border, citing his open border policies and Florida’s track record of difficult immigration enforcement. With a change of presidency, DeSantis is hoping to change some of the immigration policies that directly affect undocumented immigrants residing in Florida.
DeSantis stated he had been working hard with the transition team ahead of Trump’s inauguration and spoke to the President-elect about the day-one changes that the American people could expect regarding illegal immigration.
This includes “empowering” state and local governments to facilitate policies concerning immigration. DeSantis went on to call upon Florida’s local and state officials to ensure control over immigration laws. Lawmakers pushed back against this special session, presumably because immigration is a significant topic in Florida legislation. Regardless of whether the special session goes to fruition, we will most likely see DeSantis introduce legislation to increase immigration laws as well as provide more funding for governmental officials, which he stated in the conference.
In his first term, DeSantis removed all sanctuary cities from Florida, allowing him to crack down on immigration. A sanctuary city works very little with immigration officials to give safety to immigrants without the threat of deportation. DeSantis said he will seek to provide more funding to police officials to enforce immigration laws, making it clear he wishes to remove any type of “incentives” that lead people to immigrate illegally.
However, the special session will not only be used to discuss illegal immigration. Hurricane relief is still a pressing issue for many Floridians due to the lingering effects of hurricanes Helene and Milton. DeSantis wants to push the legislature to provide funding for those who need immediate relief.
DeSantis stated he also hopes to work on condominium relief, referring to the surfside incident in 2021 when a Miami condo building partially collapsed and took the lives of 98 residents. Likely, talks of citizen-initiative petition processes will also be brought up, as this was a rising issue during the 2024 election. Especially with Amendment 4 on the ballot, there were fraudulent petitions that circulated on the internet about the amendment that many Florida residents signed hoping to express their concerns.
Legislators will also be addressing funding that will be going into the My Safe Florida Home program, which helps homeowners ensure their homes are safe for hurricane season.
While the topics being addressed during the special session will affect the general Florida population, the changes in immigration policies directly affect children and students, especially those seeking or receiving Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) benefits.
During the press conference, DeSantis referred to legislation filed by Republican Sen. Randy Fine to end in-state tuition for undocumented students. This will be one of the biggest changes coming to higher education during this special session. Currently, there are about 1,026,100 undocumented individuals residing in the state of Florida, 6,073 of which receive DACA benefits in higher education. If any legislation passes regarding undocumented students receiving post-secondary education, these students will have to pay out-of-state tuition, leaving many unable to pay for higher education.
If the special session does take place, it will start Jan. 27 and conclude no later than the end of the month. The regular legislative session is scheduled for March and is expected to extend until May.